“She was misinformed and confused. I’m working on her.”
“You haven’t won her over yet?”
“I will soon. But in the meantime, how involved can you be?”
Satya sounds pleased. “I have my ways. If you can get Allie to play along, I can get to you two.”
“Good. Keep an eye on this phone. I’ll call again soon.”
“Be careful, Gabriel. Massimo is more than just a ruthless monster. But he’s also very much that.”
Gabe hangs up and looks at me. He arches an eyebrow. “Well? How was that?”
I sit back and say nothing. Anger seethes through me.
Satya, that traitor bitch. I treated her like family. I brought her into my inner circle and trusted her. I let her watch my daughter and gave her everything I could.
And now she’s repaying me like this.
It makes me sick with hate. I want to make her suffer. I want to burn Medved to the ground just so I can reach her.
“You did good.” I take the phone back and shove it in my pocket. “I’ll be back when we know what our next move is.”
“He’s not stupid, you know,” Gabe says as I walk to the door. Lady unlocks it for me. “Medved’s not going to saunter into a trap.”
“No, maybe not, but he’ll happily send his pawns in his place.”
I step into the hall and pause as the door clicks shut.
Fucking Satya. This whole place feels tainted. There have been too many betrayals. Maybe Lucy’s right and I’ve been too trusting of my people.
But I have a choice. I don’t have to run my organization through fear. I can surround myself with people who want to be here, people who aren’t terrified and who will speak to me withhonesty and dignity, or I can stock the Fortress with sycophants and yes-men.
The choice felt obvious for a while. I’m not so sure anymore.
I’m unhappy until I step foot back into the apartment. It’s late, and I was worried that Rosie would be in bed already. Instead, she’s cuddled up on the couch with Allie while my wife reads a book.
I walk over to them. Allie glances at me but keeps reading. It’s one of those cardboard things with a fun-sounding nonsense story and lots of brightly colored hippos doing silly things. Rosie loves it when the hippos go crazy in the middle. I watch as Allie finishes, and Rosie laughs and begs for it again.
I step forward, laying a hand on my wife’s shoulder. “May I?”
She looks surprised. “You want to read to her?”
I nod slowly. “Would you like that, Rosie-doll?”
Rosie reaches for me. I lift her into my arms and accept the book from Allie. My wife looks absolutely mystified. “If she doesn’t mind, it’s fine with me.”
I carry my daughter up to her nursery. We sit together in a rocking chair, and I read the stupid book three times until she seems sleepy enough. I kiss her hair, breathe her in, and place her down in bed with a blanket and a single stuffy. She looks at me with big, sleepy eyes.
“Night, love,” I whisper.
She sucks her thumb and smiles back.
I find Allie waiting for me in the hallway. She looks like she was worrying. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s totally fine.”
“Rosie can be kind of fussy at night.”
